This invention relates to gates, doors and similar structures and the frames to which they are mounted. In particular, this invention relates to safety barriers for easy temporary installation across an opening such as a doorway or stairway, such barriers being the type generally used to prevent the passage of small children or animals.
Safety barriers are widely used as temporary installations in homes where infants or animals are present, to prevent the infants or animals from entering a stairwell, leaving or entering a room, or similar types of access or activity. Such barriers are typically designed to be quickly installed and removed so that the restricted area can be readily shifted from one location to another and the barrier can be readily removed when the child or animal is not present.
The typical home will have a number of passageways where such barriers will be useful. These may include, for example, hallways, doorframes, and stairwell entrances. The widths of these passageways may vary considerably from one to the next. In addition to spanning the width of the passageway, such barriers generally include a gate which is openable only by an adult to permit passage when the barrier is in place.
It is an object of this invention to provide a barrier which is readily adjustable for installation across passageways of various widths, providing a gate for adult passage, and yet providing full lateral blockage of the passageway when the gate is closed.